In Memory

Richard Norman Jenson - Class Of 1934

Richard N. Jenson (March 23, 1916 - April 1, 1943) was born in Washington and graduated from South Pasadena High School. During World War II, he was Aide-de-Camp to General George S. Patton and was killed in action in Tunisia.

General Patton told reporters "Captain Jenson...had volunteered to go to the front as an additional officer in our tank force on the Gabes road. When Stukas came over this morning he was standing only a few feet from one of our generals (Omar Bradley). Both dived into slit trenches. A heavy bomb landed almost at the edge of the one in which Jenson lay. He was killed instantly..." (Time, April 12, 1943)

A captain when he was killed, Jenson was posthumously promoted to major. He is buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego; Plot: Section H, Site 472